It’s National Feral Cat Day

Today is the day to think about and remember the feral cats that live among us. The nation has millions of these forgotten and abandoned kitties. JBoD endorses the trap-neuter-release (TNR) method of control. This way is far more humane than mass euthanasia. The kitties are caught in traps. They are then spayed or neutered and given rabies shots. Their left ears are notched and they are released back to their colonies to live out their normal lifespans.

Our wonderful San Francisco SPCA provides free spay or neuter for any community cat that needs it. You can read about it here.

Many areas have their own feral TNR programs. You should contact your own shelters to find out. If there are none, become an advocate if you can.

A good friend of JBoD, Nofuratu participated in a walk to benefit his own local feral TNR program. He took first place for fundraising in the Cat Walk. Hooray for Nofur!!! We wrote about his fundraising efforts back in September. Please take time to visit his blog and his Facebook page. He’s a wonderful advocate for kitties as well a foe of any form of bigotry. In addition, he’s an excellent fashion model. In short, he’s a kitty of many talents and much charisma.

Now it’s time to show off some of the ferals we have seen in our area.

Here are the daytime kitties.

feral cat

feral cat

feral cat

feral cat

feral cat

feral cat

And now we have the night kitties.

feral cats

feral cat

feral cats

feral cats
These are Lastech’s favorites. He calls them Mack the Knife and Pirate Jenny. He’s been watching them for more than a year.
feral cats
Macky, Jenny, and Bob sometimes wind up sharing their food with the raccoons

While their lifespan outdoors is considerably shortened with an average of 6 years, they are happy and alive. They didn’t ask to be neglected and abandoned and they shouldn’t have to die as a result. Please consider supporting this option instead of euthanasia.

Our wonderful furballs have feral roots. Tito was born in the shelter to a feral mom. Miss Jenny was feral when she was picked up on the streets as a kitten. Both are wonderful members of our family.


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Traveling with pets: additional musings

Ah, San Francisco… We fancied a trip to Baker Beach yesterday and took a long walk barefoot through the edge of the surf, having the enchanting experience of watching porpoises breaching the waves just offshore.

Baker Beach, a week ago

At one point a sea lion pup watched us before slipping back under the water, while dogs chased birds and each other, a perfect jellybeansofdoom kind of day.

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Caturday: shelf monsters and pack rats

As anyone who lives with cats knows, they are mischievous, wicked, naughty, thieving little critters. Some, will steal your food like Kitsy used to do. His preference was bacon, but he would settle for pizza. Some are paper shredders. The Boober’s favorite was the paper towel roll. We used to have to hide the rolls in the cupboard.

Tito is the shelf monster. If it’s on the shelf, it won’t be for long. He’s an expert of knocking items off one at a time. This is quite disturbing at 3am. We learned the hard way that breakable items have to be stored away.

Tito wanted poster

This is what Tito is like in action. His nickname should really be Ruprecht. The important part begins at 3:55 minutes in.

Some, like Miss Jenny, love to steal various items from around the house and hide them in bed. She’s a regular pack rat. Trust me, you don’t go to bed in this apartment without going through the bedding looking for all the stray items. A ballpoint pen in the posterior is not my idea of fun.

Jenny wanted poster

This is just a small sample of the items found in our bed.

toys in bed
Found in bed: One sock, two corks, one mechanical pencil, one screwdriver, one broken clothes hanger, one bottle cap and one black plastic doohumflicky


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Caturday: morning socksplosion and playtime

While Mazuzu continues his recovery, Jenny shows signs of boredom. Add to that the oh-so attractive scent of freshly laundered socks and she’ll leap into action, ‘sploding the contents of the laundry bag all over the kitchen floor.

She spent so much time rolling in it, biting and clawing, that we actually noticed two colored spots on her gut: a solitary dab of orange and a light blue one where she was, erm…- fixed.

socks explosion in kitchen
And she fought us for them, too...

Weird, I know, but there you go. Getting the socks all over the place was just the “apéritif”, and she moved on to paper towel shredding on the bed, attacking our toes and my calves, throwing one of her stuffed toys in the air repeatedly (we had to cover our coffee mugs just in case).

Jenny nursing Sphynx cat
The nurse is now bigger than the patient

Hours later, the little Hellion’s crashed on the cat tower recharging her batteries while Tito’s out chasing some flying thing, perhaps imaginary.

cat chasing bug
"Don't make me get up there!"

… What Nurse Jenny does most of the time: keep Maz the Schnazz warm:

how to keep a sphynx warm
"Yeah. He's mine too..."


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It’s Monday and No Longer Raining Cats and Dogs

We had a few good storms and it rained cats and dogs. I think it rained a guinea pig or two as well. Monday is here and it’s the day before taxes are due. Yeah, sorry for the reminder. This Monday is a good example of the need to escape. I decided to help you escape with cats, dogs, and some good music.

Many of you will remember the Ultimate Dog Tease video by klaatu42 at YouTube. Well, here is the Ultimate Cat Tease by the same. If the screen goes wonky and sputters, it’s deliberate. Just wait. It’s worth it.

It’s time for the dogs. Here is OK Go with a wonderful song and video starring dogs and OK Go, of course.

Here is a LOL from Cheezburger cute enough to make your head ‘splode.

dogs and cats


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Caturday: Friday the 13th follow up…

The night of Thursday into Friday the 13th, a night of celestial mayhem, turned out to bring Tito and I ever closer…

lightning strikes San Bruno avenue
Storm re-enactment

A storm was moving through the Bay Area, with lightning strikes precise enough to hit not only the Bay bridge but a plane in flight. The plane had to dump fuel and returned safely to the airport.

Tito scared by thunder
THUNDERCATS ARE NO GO!!!

At home, as we turned off the computer and prepared to do the same with the TV, I caught something strange from the corner of my eye: a rug shimmying straight for the kitchen. A second look showed Tito hugging the floor and running for a kitchen cupboard to hide in.

I have to say, the storm was probably one of the most violent to hit the Bay Area in years.

Mazuzu sleeps through storm
Wake me up when it's ovah, dahling...

Maz, while none too pleased, was comfortably wrapped in a heavy blanket on the bed and didn’t budge. Jenny herself was sitting on the bed with a bit more nervous discomfort than he and watched Tito darting away.

Nightingale Jenny
Nightingale Jenny will make it all better...

While I don’t particularly fear that the sky will ever fall, like my ancestors the Gauls, Tito seems to be afraid of it for the both of us. The only spot he considers a refuge is the lower cupboard in the kitchen next to the stove top and behind a crock pot.

This storm kept on moving through, fortunately, and Jenny helped Tito recover with tender grooming and copious amounts of catnip she shared… Tito the Gaul. Wow. We are kin!


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Night feeding the cats: Cloverfield, Jurassic Park and the Alamo

This just happened. Oh, in the last 40 minutes or so.

Maz: “- Mmmmraw…. Meeeeewe….

Rudha-an: – Unnnh.nnuh. Nno baby, wut time is it..?

Me: – Hrrumph… I’ts… Four thirty. Jesus.

Maz: – Hmmraow. Rrrweee. MRAOW.

Rudha-an: – Not now baby, it’s too – (another body landed on the bed)

Me: – T-Tito what the @#$%? [He takes off]

Rudha-an (as a result of being trampled by Maz): – Would you stop..? Christ almighty. No I’m not going in there. ‘Course I love you too but Jeesus.

Me: – [BONK] Sh*t, who did I kick off the bed..?

Rudha-an: – Musta been Tito.

Me: – No it felt lighter than – [cats are heard romping through the apartment: TROMP-TROMP-TROMP-MMMMMREEEWEEEE!-TAGADA-TAGADA-TAGADA-TSOIN-TSOIN! I dunno… Suddenly one lands next to my feet before taking off at warp speed, claws raking my ankles] AAAGH!!! @#$#^%&!!!!! F*****G $%&*&##@@!!!!!!

Rudha-an: – Told you to cover your feet….

Me: – [for the umpteenth time] THEY GET WARMJoder!!! [Yeah, ’cause I cuss in other languages too…] Bastards!

Maz: – Rrrrrewweee!!! MmROW!

Me: – Hey f***k you pal. [I grab him and wrap him in the blanket against me. As I grab him his legs stiffen out, kicking every which way, like hypnic jerking, one claw nailing Rudha-an in the arm]

clover

Rudha-an: – DAMMIT!!!! $#@^%&*!!!!

I’m holding on tight to Maz, petting him as he tries to burrow an escape tunnel. He turns and MMMRAOWS in my face. I gotta come up for air: I just smelled the entire Seattle fish market fill my nose. Blech.

Jenny, I can tell from the weight before she even utters a chirrup, leaps on my shoulder, slides and rakes my neck with a claw. The Deguello echoes loud in my head. Flesh wound. I’ll live.

Fierce creature...
Fierce creature…

From a corner of the room, not sure which, I feel Tito either orchestrating the mayhem or perhaps waiting to come in and save us… Who knows, both things have happened in the past.

Someday these fangs will come for blood...
Someday these fangs will come for blood…

YES! He jumps next to me and grabs at Jenny who suddenly takes off!

NO! he climbs on my gut and takes a flying leap from there.

I fart. That’s it, I’m awake now…


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